newjerseynewsroom.com

But voters embarrassed by corruption. Blame Democrats

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

UPDATED

Democratic incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine has gained serious ground on Republican challenger Christopher Christie and now trails the former federal prosecutor 46-40 percent in the three-way race for governor, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.

In a poll released July 14, two days before President Obama appeared before 17,500 people to endorse Corzine at the PNC Arts Center, Christie led the governor 54-20 percent in a three-way race with Daggett garnering 13 percent of likely voters.

The latest poll shows Corzine picked up 20 percent more likely voters in the past four weeks while Christie lost 8 percent and Daggett dropped from 13 percent to 6 percent.

The poll shows likely voters who abandoned Christie and Daggett have switched to Corzine. Potential voters who remain with Daggett, a former Republican, are people who would likely have gone for Christie if the independent was not in the race.

Sean Darcy, a Corzine campaign spokesman, welcomed the poll's findings.

"The more people hear about Christie, the more they realize he is the wrong person to lead this state,'' Darcy said. "There are three months left before Election Day and Governor Corzine is down by six in this latest poll. We are confident that people will be very clear on the significant differences between these candidates and will see that Governor Corzine is the best leader for New Jersey.''

In the two-way face-off, Corzine leads 83-10 percent among Democratic likely voters, compared to 76-19 percent in July. Christie leads 89-7 percent among Republicans and 64-29 percent among independent voters, both unchanged.

"Third party candidate Christopher Daggett is going nowhere, but he makes the race interesting, eating into Christie's lead and bringing the gap down to six points," said Maurice Carroll, poll director.

New Jersey voters disapprove 58-36 percent of the job Corzine is doing, a slight improvement on his 60-33 percent disapproval in July. By a 54-37 percent margin, they have an unfavorable opinion of Corzine, compared to a 42-26 percent favorable opinion of Christie. For Daggett, 92 percent don't know enough about him to form an opinion.

Voters say 42-36 percent they would rather spend an afternoon on the Sandy Hook beach with Corzine. Women would rather stroll with Corzine 46-31 percent, while men favor Christie 42-38 percent. A total of 65 percent of voters say a likable personality is "very important" or "somewhat important" in a candidate.

A total of 93 percent of New Jersey voters say government corruption is a "somewhat serious" or "very serious" problem and 65 percent of voters say the recent wave of corruption arrests embarrasses them as New Jersey residents.

Voters say 50-15 percent that they associate the Democratic Party with corruption more than the Republican Party. Independent voters blame Democrats 56-9 percent. Even 28 percent of Democrats point the finger at their own party.

"Is corruption a big problem? Wow, is it! Almost everyone in New Jersey thinks so. And two thirds feel personally embarrassed to live in a state where politicians are pictured in handcuffs," Carroll said. "More than half associate corruption with the Democratic party. Almost a third say both parties share the blame. Republicans pretty much get a pass."

New Jersey voters know little about the candidates for lieutenant governor: 91 percent don't know enough about Republican Kim Guadagno to form an opinion and 81 percent don't know enough about Democrat Loretta Weinberg.

Christie would do a better job on the state budget, voters say 47-41 percent, and do a better job cleaning up corruption, voters say 54-31 percent.

Voters also say 55-35 percent that Christie's service as a federal prosecutor gives him enough experience to be governor.

"It's almost all bad for the governor - a big negative on job performance, where he's down 3-1 in some Republican areas,'' Carroll said. "He loses to Christie, too, when we ask who'd do better building budgets and fighting corruption. One lonely positive: On the ‘nice guy' question of who'd be a better companion on the Sandy Hook beach, Corzine outscores Christie.

"If the lieutenant governor choices will make a difference, it hasn't shown up yet,'' Carroll said. "Hardly anyone has heard of Guadagno and Weinberg is far from a household name."

From Aug. 5-9, Quinnipiac surveyed 1,167 New Jersey likely voters, with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points.